This was reported by a Reuters source who had access to the correspondence between the countries.
It marks a renewed intensification of Western efforts to impose the $60 price ceiling on Russian oil, which will force Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
The introduced mechanism prohibits Western companies from providing transportation, insurance and financial services to facilitate the trade of Russian oil at prices above the limit.
Russia is increasingly using a fictitious fleet of old oil tankers to transport its oil and circumvent restrictions. Panama, the Marshall Islands and Liberia have allowed some of these tankers to fly their flags, analysts said.
This practice, known as “flagging,” allows some front companies created to market Russian oil to use the flags of the three countries listed above and avoid sanctions.
About 40 percent of the roughly 535 tankers in the dark fleet are owned by companies registered in the Marshall Islands, according to data analytics firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
A Reuters source says the letters in his possession contain warnings to Panama, the Marshall Islands and Liberia about increasing cases of circumvention of Russian oil price restrictions put in place by G7 countries, as well as the associated risks. with boats that do not have Western Insurance.
The three countries do not face sanctions and their embassies in Washington did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The goal of pressure from the United States and its allies is not to reduce the number of ships transporting Russian oil by water, but to tighten control over compliance with maximum prices and increase Russia’s costs in transporting oil.
Panama has generally responded to U.S. requests to crack down on illegal activities, the Reuters source noted.
The US, EU and UK are calling on Liberia and the Marshall Islands to raise awareness among traders that their flag should not be used on tankers carrying oil above the maximum price.
The letters sent to authorities in Panama, the Marshall Islands and Liberia were signed by US Undersecretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson, who oversees the fight against terrorist financing and monitors sanctions violations in the US government. , the head of the international finance department. the director of the British Treasury, Lindsay White, and the head of the financial services department of the European Commission, John Berrigan.
